The programme also incorporates a one month “welcome back” initiative, which allows returning team members to ease back into their job with the ability to work from home, on a part-time schedule and with flexible hours. Parents are able to take their leave up to their child’s third birthday, and are encouraged to take the full time off, with the added flexibility of splitting their leave into separate periods. “When we launched the programme there was this big spike in interest – and this has never really come down” Spotify offers six months fully paid parental leave to all employees (regardless of gender and how they become a parent). “So when we talk about total reward in selling to candidates who want to join Spotify, our parental leave programme is part of the total reward conversation,” said Kim, who was speaking ahead of the HR Innovation & Tech Fest, which will be held from 27-28 November 2017 at the Hilton Sydney. The programme was initially intended for existing employees, but Kim said that it has had an external impact on its talent attraction strategy. “Our brand really generates a demand of talent, which is great, but when we launched the parental leave programme there was this big spike in interest – and this has never really come down.”

“When we launched the parental leave programme two years ago, one of the first interesting things we saw in the data was a significant spike in external applications from candidates who wanted to join Spotify,” he said.

One of the most significant HR activities to generate interest in the company from a talent attraction and retention strategy has been a carefully thought-through parental leave program, according to its head of HR for APAC, Michael Kim. A combination of data-driven business and integrated HR strategies – including a generous parental leave program – have contributed to a strong employment brand for global music streaming platform Spotify, which receives an average of 20,000 unique job applications per month.

Spotify jobs head of innovation